Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas says its partner Navitas Petroleum will drill a multi-target exploration well on license PL001 in the Falkland Islands' North Falkland Basin, once Navitas completes its pending acquisition of the license. Navitas estimates the first chosen drilling target holds a 2U, or best-estimate, prospective resource of 640 million barrels of oil. Based on that estimate, and pending completion of Eco's own acquisition of JHI Associates, Inc., Eco's share of the resource would be about 225 million barrels in a drilling success case.

Falklands well tied to Sea Lion campaign

The estimate comes from Navitas' quarterly report, announced 24 August 2026. The well is planned as part of Navitas' development drilling campaign on PL001, with part of the wider Sea Lion Project drilling campaign, known as NDA1, expected to begin at the start of 2027. Navitas said that in a success case, the PL001 target could be tied back to the existing Sea Lion production platform. Its presentation also pointed to several additional prospects on PL001 that are not yet included in the resource reports.

  • PL001 first target 2U prospective resource: 640 million barrels of oil
  • Eco's estimated share in a drilling success case: about 225 million barrels

Eco said it will give further updates as its JHI acquisition progresses and as Navitas adds any of the additional PL001 prospects to its NSAI resource reports.

South Africa block resource estimate grows

Offshore South Africa, Eco and Navitas have been assessing the scale of Block 1 CBK's prospective resource since announcing their farm-in to the block in May 2026, a deal still pending government approval. Based on existing seismic data, the companies now put the block's unrisked prospective resource at about 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and more than 3,600 million barrels.

  • Block 1 CBK unrisked prospective gas resource: about 4.5 trillion cubic feet
  • Block 1 CBK unrisked prospective resource: more than 3,600 million barrels

Eco said the increase reflects both the quality of the acreage and the technical work it and Navitas have done on the block, with more seismic interpretation still to come. The joint venture partners are waiting on regulatory approvals, including Navitas' Section 11 application, which authorities are reviewing against the company's technical and financial capabilities.

CEO points to South Africa's offshore potential

Eco Atlantic CEO Gil Holzman said Navitas' updated South Africa resources point to what he called 'world-class offshore oil and gas potential.' He said unlocking that potential needs a stable, efficient regulatory framework that gives investors confidence while keeping environmental standards in place, pointing to Eco's 2022 experience in South Africa's Orange Basin and in neighboring Namibia. Holzman said the Falklands resource estimate reinforces Eco's decision to increase its exposure to PL001 through the JHI acquisition, expected to complete once Eco receives final approval from the Falkland Islands government. He added that the updates also support Eco's cooperation with Navitas beyond the Falklands and South Africa, including in Guyana.